When life gets in the way
by funkypurple
Summary: Years ago, he'd told her that he was too old for her. But could their love survive the age gap - of what people think? Could their love survive the test of time and what it brings? All human.
1. Chapter 1

**ONE**

Could you really never forget your first love? Could you ever stop loving the first person who'd told you he loved you? Could you ever stop loving the first person who'd make your heart skip a beat and make you feel all funny inside? Elena didn't think she could. After five years, she was still in love with her first love; the first person who'd told her he loved her; the first person who'd make her heart skip a beat and made her feel all funny inside. And after five years, he still had that same effect on her, though she didn't think he knew.

Elena watched from her corner as he smiled down at his new girlfriend. The smile that had once been for her. And her heart broke, slowly and painfully. Damon Salvatore didn't do girlfriends, he had always enjoyed flirting and partying way too much to be willing to be tied down by commitments. But, Elena thought, this Katherine Pierce must be special. And that in itself, hurt infinite times more than seeing him smile and focus all his attention on her. He never did like going for parties, but here he was, seemingly enjoying himself and showing off his girlfriend to the entire town.

"Surprising, isn't it?"

Elena turned and saw Stefan, who had gotten them both drinks. Elena took hers from him, "What is?"

"Damon."

Elena forced a smile, "Yeah. I never pegged him for the boyfriend type." It wasn't true. How many times had she wished and fantasized about him being _hers_? But it was what people expected to hear, she knew. Even Stefan, Damon's brother and Elena's best friend, knew nothing about what had happened between them.

Both the brothers were so different, as different as day was from night. Stefan, with his dark brown hair and green eyes, was always so serious and considerate – he was always willing to lend a hand and he was also serious about schooling. In their second year in University, Stefan was a quarterback and was consistently on the Dean's list, making him one of the top scorers in University. He was already sure of what he'd wanted to do in the future. He was going to take over his father's business and bring it to new heights. Damon, on the other hand, had black hair was contrasted so strongly with his bold blue eyes, eyes that always seemed to draw you in. He had always been the bad boy, the one who created trouble for the family and for the town, but none too serious. He had not continued his studies after college, it wasn't that he wasn't smart – he just didn't want to, which only caused more strain between his parents and him. He had always made himself out to be the kind of guy who came and went, with not a care in the world and everyone thought of him as heartless, but Elena knew otherwise.

"I heard that they'd met when Damon was in London, doing God-knows-what. But you've got to admit that she's hot."

And pretty, too, Elena added in her head. Feeling overwhelmed all of a sudden, Elena said, "I'm going to go out and have some air. Too many people here. Find you later, okay, Stef?"

Stefan eyed his best friend seriously before nodding. He had no reason to believe that there was anything wrong.

Outside, Elena sighed and found herself a quiet spot on a swing under a tree a distance away from the Lockwood mansion. She had once enjoyed mingling with people, but it had been the times when Damon wasn't around. For the past five years, he was almost always away, popping back in town randomly for a few days to a week but they had hardly seen or spoken to each other – save from the birthday and Christmas cards she'd gotten from him over the years. But now, he had been back for a month, with a girlfriend and Elena didn't know what to think or feel. She'd thought that she was over him, but today proved just how wrong she was.

She should be happy for him, right? He had finally found someone he could be with, someone who understood him, who put those light in his eyes when he smiled, who loved him. Katherine would be a fool not to love him. He was a great guy and he deserved to be happy.

Just then, she heard a woman's throaty laugh and turned around, making her heart stop. They'd come out and were in each other's arms and she could all but see his heart in his eyes. Seeing them make out passionately should've embarrassed the hell out of her, but for some reason, she couldn't move. When they'd finally surfaced, Damon grinned and cupped Katherine's face with his hands and said, "I love you, Katherine."

Elena gasp involuntarily, making Damon lift his gaze from Katherine and pinned her with those blue eyes. Katherine didn't hear for she giggled and said, "I love you, too, Damon." And hugged him tightly. For a moment, Elena simply stared at Damon while she felt her heart break all at once. Unlike before, it felt like her heart had simply shattered into a million pieces. When her vision blurred, Elena realised that tears were welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill over. Not wanting to make a scene, she got up and left quickly.

She was running and running, not knowing where she was headed. All she knew was that she needed to get out. She couldn't breathe. Her breathe hitched and Elena stopped, leaning against a tree, covering her mouth with her hand while sobs escaped from her. She had thought she was fine seeing them together, but hearing him say those words, made it all too real. Those words that he'd once told her and promised his heart to her, to her and only her. But she guessed it was hers no longer. And Elena felt like a fool. A fool for wishing.

"Elena?"

Shocked, Elena stood upright and turned around. Her sobbing so hard must've drowned out the sounds of his footsteps. Mortified that he should see her like this, she shook her head and wiped at her tears furiously, "Damon, go back, leave me alone." _Please don't go, don't go back to Katherine._ "I'm fine, I just don't know what's gotten into me." _Don't love her, tell me you still love me. _"Do me a favour, will you? Tell Stefan that I'm not feeling well and I'll call him tomorrow."

She saw a myriad of emotions cross his face, amongst them were confusion and pain. "Lena, don't-"

"Goodbye, Damon." She heard the finality in her voice and saw from his face that he'd heard it, too. Before he could say or do anything, Elena turned and ran all the way home, not even aware that she was in heels. Once in her room, she locked the door and curled herself on her bed as she cried. Her heart was broken for the second time, by the same person. And she didn't know if her heart would ever recover. For now, though, it was in pieces and she didn't know how to pick them up and fix them together.

* * *

"Yes, Stefan, I'm fine. I'd just wanted to go back early and settle down. Maybe even do a little research before school starts. It's only just a few more days to go, I will be fine there on my own. In fact, I know Caroline and Bonnie are already there. You can spend more time with your family and I'll see you when you're back in school."

"If you're sure, Elena-"

"Of course I am. Enjoy the rest of your holidays. See you in a few days', Stef."

And she hung up. Stefan stared at his phone, frowning. There was something up with her and he didn't know what it was. Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Stefan went down the hallway into Damon's room where he was buttoning his shirt.

"Where's Katherine?"

"Out shopping. I'm supposed to meet her for lunch in a bit." Looking up, Damon saw Stefan's face and raised an eyebrow, "What's up, baby bro?" Then he smirked and walked around Stefan to get his leather jacket, "Didn't get that grade you wanted?"

He was about to make his way out when Stefan asked, "Did something happen to Elena last night at the party?"

Damon stopped short and turned around, "What makes you think that?"

Stefan shrugged even as he frowned and glanced at the floor, "I don't know. It's just that she never came back to the party when she said she would and now she's already on the way back to campus when we'd planned on returning at the end of the week."

It was indeed strange, but Damon rolled his eyes at Stefan, "I told you, she said that she wasn't feeling well that's why she left early. So she'd decided that she had things to do and went back early, what's wrong with that? It's only a few days early. Don't be such a worrier, Stef." Patting his brother on the back, Damon left.

As Damon got into his car, he frowned at his own reflection in the rear-view mirror. Did she leave because she didn't want to see him? The image of her crying was burned into his brain and onto his heart. He'd never seen her cry like that before. In fact, he had never seen her cry at all. There was once years ago when she had tears in her eyes, but she had controlled them fast enough. Her sobbing like her heart was breaking would be forever etched onto his brain and heart. He would never forget it, for it felt like as though his heart was breaking, too. Could it be possible that she still loved him? It had been five years – what were the odds?

Sighing, Damon ran a frustrated hand over his face. Damn Elena. Starting his car, he went to find Katherine where he had promised to meet her for lunch, while all the while he was thinking of Elena.

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	2. Chapter 2

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**Just a note, this chapter takes place a year later (:**

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**TWO**

Elena was making her way to her room at the on-campus hostel and was pleasantly surprised to find a box and an envelope. _Elena Gilbert_, it said. Smiling to herself, she went in and closed the door behind her before tearing into the letter. She knew exactly whose handwriting it was.

_Dearest Elena,_

_You seem to be so stressed out lately and between your schedule and mine, I haven't seen you in almost 2 weeks. I miss you, Lena. Keep next week free, okay? We'll go have fun – it is term break after all. But until I get to see you again, hope what's inside the box cheer you up since I'm can't be there to do it myself (project meeting with Tyler, Bonnie & Caroline)._

_Thinking of you,_

_Matt_

Placing the letter down on her bed, Elena sat as she opened the box. There, inside of it was a treat galore! All her favourite chocolates were inside and he had even gone to the trouble to bake her favourite double chocolate chip cookies. Grinning like a fool, she unwrapped the cookies and ate them quickly. She didn't want to risk leaving them lying around and Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline or whoever who came into her room would no doubt finish them all – it was _that_ good.

Somehow, he knew how to cheer her up and make the worst of it go away. They had been dating for almost three months now and Elena was very grateful to him for taking it slow. For some reason, she'd found that she could trust him. Maybe because she felt safe around him. She did like Matt a lot – how could she not? He was so thoughtful, sweet and kind. And he was always there. Unlike everyone else around her, he knew about Damon and that alone made her feel like she didn't have to be careful around him because he simply knew her and accepted her for who she was. Not that Stefan, Bonnie or Caroline wouldn't accept her, but they would worry and try and talk her through it or out of it. With Matt, though, he simply accepted and that made her adore him even more.

Just then, there was a knock on her door. Opening it, she saw Stefan and it seemed like her day just got better.

"Stefan!"

She hugged him tightly before letting him into the room.

Stefan raised an eyebrow, "Someone sure is cheery today."

Elena laughed and sat on the bed beside Stefan, "I wasn't. Not until I saw this." She showed Stefan the letter and the box and grinned. "Since I ate all the cookies I'm perfectly happy to share the rest with you."

Rolling his eyes, Stefan unwrapped a chocolate bar. "You could always ask Matt to bake more. He'd be more than happy to."

"Hey!" Stefan exclaimed as he rubbed his arm from where Elena had smacked him.

"I will not take advantage of him."

"Who said anything about taking advantage? How come you guys aren't like official yet or something?"

Elena shrugged, "I told you, Stefan. He asked me once before but I'd thought that it wasn't time yet and I do want to take things slow. Don't want to rush anything, you know?" And that was when she'd told him. She was afraid to fall in love again and she was afraid to get her heart broken. She wanted to be sure that she wasn't rushing into it. But Elena wondered if the part of her that was pulling back was because she was hoping that Damon would come back to her. Come back and tell her that he loved her and that Katherine was a mistake.

Something must have passed over her face for Stefan asked, "Lena, you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Okay..." Not quite convinced but letting it go, Stefan continued, "As I was saying, I think three months is not rushing into things. Are you afraid 'cause you've never been together with someone? Matt's in the same football team as I am. I know him personally and he really is a great guy."

Elena nodded, "I know. I don't know why I'm hesitating either. Anyway, how're things with Caroline? I've been so busy I haven't met her to catch up. Or bonnie."

She saw his face light up as he filled her in and Elena smiled. Stefan and Caroline had been dating for a month before officially getting together and it had been almost half a year since then and it looked like everything was going by great. Elena loved how they were always so happy together. Seeing them so happy made her happy.

"Anyway, I was thinking of going for a short holiday with Caroline. Term break's only in a couple of days. What are you and Matt doing? Going back to Mystic Falls?"

Maybe she was paranoid but there was something about the way he said 'Mystic Falls' that got her back up. "We haven't exactly planned anything yet. If nothing's up, I just might go back to visit Jenna and Jeremy. Why?"

Stefan shifted uncomfortably. He didn't know why it was so hard for him to tell her. There was nothing they couldn't tell one another but after the party last year, he couldn't explain why he had this feeling that there was something he didn't know about. Something between his best friend and his brother.

When Stefan hesitated, Elena began to get more anxious, "What is it, Stefan? Is it Jeremy? Did he get into some trouble and called you?" It wasn't the first time and if it was, Elena couldn't say that she was surprised. He had gotten into a fight once and didn't want any of them to know and as a last resort, had called Stefan to pick him up. Jeremy had been high and fought with some guy over a girl at a party. And it was Stefan who had helped Jeremy get clean and although it was over a year ago, Elena was still worried.

Knowing what she was thinking, Stefan said quickly, "No, no. There's nothing wrong with Jeremy. There's nothing wrong with anyone. It's good news actually. Damon had called me earlier today to tell me that he had proposed to Katherine."

Suddenly, it had felt like the world had stood still and spun. And Elena felt so cold all of a sudden. _Damon had proposed to Katherine_. She had thought that she was just beginning to get used to seeing them both together, beginning to get used to the twang in her heart every time she did. But nothing in the world could've prepared her for this.

"Damon had _what_?"

Stefan had barely heart her whispered question. She had gone so pale that he was nervous. What happened? He didn't know what to do.

"He proposed. Are you okay, Lena? You've gone so pale."

Elena yanked herself back and focused on Stefan even as she forced a smile, "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? It is good news. Congratulate Damon for me, will you?"

Before Stefan could respond, Elena got to her feet abruptly. "Sorry, Stef, I forgot that I was supposed to meet Bonnie. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

And she had all but shoved him out of the room and shut the door in his face. Stunned, Stefan stood on the other side not quite understanding what just took place. Wasn't Matt at a project meeting with Bonnie and Caroline? So how...? Shaking his head, Stefan shrugged. Maybe Elena had gotten mixed up.

"Lena?" Stefan knocked softly. After five minutes with no response, he assumed that she was in the showers and left.

On the other side of the door, Elena looked out of the window that overlooked the school compound. Damon had proposed to Katherine. Her heart squeezed painfully but Elena refused to cry. Just how many times could Damon break her heart? Three times now, if anyone was counting. People always say that the third time's the charm. Maybe this was the time she could finally get over him. Closing her eyes, Elena willed the tears back and took a deep breath. No, she would not cry. She was done crying over him. What good did it do? At the end of the day, the fact of the matter was that he had moved on. _He's engaged for Christ's sake_, Elena thought. And she hoped that that was the cue her heart needed in order for her to get over him. She _needed_ to.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took a little longer and that I didn't reply your reviews personally (was swamped with work and school).**

**Nevertheless, I do appreciate all the reviews and story alerts – they really are very encouraging (: Okay, enough rant.**

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**THREE**

"Goodbye, honey, I'll see you in about a week's time."

Katherine kissed Damon soundly on the lips before getting on a cab. She had insisted that he saved the trouble of sending her to the airport. After all, she was only going back to see her friends and to spread the good news in person. She was, after all, going to marry into the richest family in Mystic Falls.

It wasn't too bad a deal considering that Damon was gorgeous. She had actually enjoyed being around him. But it had all been for the money. And she needed time away to breathe, to be around people that actually knew her. The past year had been a hell of work – being the perfect girlfriend. Well, it had paid off, didn't it? The diamond on her finger winked at her, as though congratulating her on her success.

But it was too soon to let down her guard. Not until she was married. Smiling to herself, she wondered what Klaus would say. After all, it was he who had suggested it. They had been the masterminds and Damon had been the mark. She was sorry to have to hurt him, for he was truly a nice guy. But in a game, someone had to lose. Unfortunately for Damon, it was going to be him.

* * *

Damon went back up into the apartment he had shared with Katherine over the past year. Restless, he prowled the empty apartment, not knowing what to do with himself. He had gotten so used to having Katherine around and now that she was away, he felt... lonely.

Smiling slightly, Damon realised the irony of it all. Damon Salvatore was finally going to tie the knot. Who would have guessed? He certainly had not planned for this moment. It had simply happened. They had been dating for more than a year now and had been living together for a year and he was contented and comfortable. And he loved her. It only made sense that the next step was to get married, wasn't it?

But yet something was nagging at him. As though something wasn't quite right. But it should feel _right_, right? He knew that Stefan hadn't been quite thrilled about the idea, although he did congratulate him. Katherine was such a wonderful woman, he didn't get why the people around him didn't seem to approve. He got that his father wasn't too keen. Then again, Giuseppe Salvatore was never too keen about what his elder son did anyway. Not since Damon had made it clear years ago that he wanted nothing to do with Giuseppe's company. He had counted on Stefan to be happy for him, though.

Did Stefan tell Elena? How did she react to it? Was she happy? Or did she even care? Hang on – why was he thinking about Elena? Cursing himself, Damon stalked to the bathroom and splashed cold water at his face. For some reason, after he'd proposed to Katherine, Elena was all that he could think about. Screwed up, fucking screwed up. He was engaged to Katherine but his thoughts were on another woman. Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, it felt like as though he was having an affair with Elena and the guilt was eating at him.

He hadn't seen much of Elena since the time at the party. He remembered the look on her face, the look he had only seen once before. Once, six years ago now, that they were impossible. He'd remembered it so clearly like it was yesterday, because for the first time in his life, his heart broke, too. She had been sixteen and he was twenty-one.

"_We can't do this anymore, Lena."_

_They were in his room, like so many times before, for a almost a year now. Stefan was away on a football camp and Giuseppe was almost never home anyway. Stefan had been so caught up with football because he was determined to get that football scholarship. It wasn't that he needed the money, Stefan was, well, being Stefan and he'd wanted to excel._

_But Giuseppe and Stefan were far from Damon's mind at the moment as he tried to look dead on into those doe eyes that never failed to drew him in and tug at his heart. Right now, they were wide and he could see confusion and hurt in her eyes. _

"_What do you mean, Damon?" Her voice shook slightly and he could tell that she was trying to control it._

_He would much rather stab himself in the heart than to do this to her, to be the one who'd hurt her. He had always known that he would, that he never deserved her. But he certainly didn't dream of doing this to her. But it had to be done. For her own good. There was no other way._

_Carefully, he schooled his face, making sure that she couldn't see what he was feeling, couldn't hear his own heart breaking._

"_I'm too old for you, Lena. I'm practically an adult now and you're not even finished with high school." God, he was such a paedophile. "I know you'd said that you don't care what others thought, but sneaking around, hiding from people isn't how a relationship should be." And she'd deserved more, so much more than he could give her. "But I do. I care what they think. And I can't do this anymore. I simply can't. We have to stop this. Whatever this is."_

_He saw the tears well up in her eyes and he could all but see her heart break in those brown eyes but he had to harden himself against it. It was best to get it over and done with. In the hardest of ways so that she would move on. And it would be easier for her if she'd hated him. If she'd hated him, she wouldn't want to see her ever again and he would not give in and drop to his knees and beg her to forgive him. They would all move on._

_Elena got up on shaky legs, trying to focus on his face through the tears as she spoke in between sobs, tearing at his already shattered heart, "I don't believe you. Tell me you don't love me. Tell me and I'll believe you."_

_Damon shook his head sadly. How could he possibly? But she was unrelenting, hurt and angry at the same time. When he had refused, Elena stormed over and shoved at him._

"_Why are you doing this, Damon? You love me, why are you doing this?"_

_Knowing that there was no other way, Damon grabbed her wrists firmly but gently and steeled himself. "You leave me no choice, Lena. I didn't want to hurt you further but if that's what you want to hear for you to move on, I'll say it. I don't love you, Elena."_

_She reared back as though he'd slapped her and her face went pale. Abruptly, she yanked her hands form his grip and turned, running blindly out of the door. When he heard the front door slam, Damon walked numbly towards the window and saw Elena running away, running out of his life._

_I don't love you. I don't love you. I don't love you. _

_Turning around, he buried his face in his hands and cried. Cried for the first time ever since his mother's passing more than a decade ago. It had to be done. It took an outing with Alaric and Tyler the previous day to realise that he was screwing up Elena's life. They had seen a couple walking together on the streets when they went to hit the pub in the next town nearby, and Alaric had commented on how it made him sick that a guy would prey on a girl so young. That the girl probably didn't know what she was getting into until she was in it. And Tyler snorted and said that the girl was probably a slut anyway. Dating a guy so much older, they were probably doing it and she would've known they would from the get-go._

_He wouldn't mind if people said that he was a pervert. But he minded very much the idea of people thinking of Elena as a slut, or anything close to it. She meant everything to him and he couldn't let other people think bad of her, especially not when they were the people she loved and cared about. She didn't deserve that. And so he'd decided to let her go, let everything they had go to protect her from the nastiness of society. _

Shaking his head, Damon let out a shaky breath. He hadn't let himself think of that day in a very long time. And for a very long time, he had stood by the fact that what he did was right. She was too young and he had no business being with her when she hadn't even explored the world yet, when he had experienced so much more than she had at that time.

But he didn't know if it was right anymore. He had thought that marrying Katherine had been the right move, didn't he? So why was Elena haunting his thoughts relentlessly? Why did he look at Katherine and think of Elena? Why was he relieved that she had taken a week off to go back and visit her friends?

He didn't know what the right thing was anymore.

"Fuck me. Damn it all to hell." Muttering to himself, Damon grabbed his leather jacket and swung out of the apartment. There was only one way to find out.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Summer holidays overwhelmed me and I simply didn't have the time to write.**

**But here is a new chapter! (:**

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**FOUR**

The sky was such a beautiful shade of blue and the weather was simply beautiful. Elena was grateful that the break was finally here. It had taken up so much of her energy over the past few days to fake smiles and to make conversations. Although she'd like to think that everybody had no clue as to how she was feeling inside, Elena had a feeling that Stefan was beginning to suspect. It was getting harder and harder to shake him off. But now that Stefan had gone off on holiday with Caroline, she felt lighter somehow. Nobody was watching her every move and waiting for her to break down.

Here she was, taking a stroll in the school compound after a very nice lunch outside. Nothing grand, but it was everything and more than she could hope for. With Matt, everything seemed to be so simple and she was enjoying every moment of it. They couldn't go off to somewhere nice like Stefan and Caroline, because Matt had been behind on school due to the football practices and needed to catch up. Elena didn't mind, though. Bonnie had gone back to Mystic Falls to find her grandmother and had told her that Jenna and Jeremy were both doing well so there was nothing to worry about.

And holding hands with Matt felt like the most natural thing to do. Maybe she'd gotten used to him, but she could not doubt that he made her happy. He was always doing sweet things for her and she appreciated every one of them. Just that morning, he had given her flowers. It might not be anything much, but she was still trying to get used to someone showering her unconditionally with gifts and flowers just because he thought of her.

"What's going on through that pretty head of yours?"

Elena smiled and shook her head, "I was just thinking about how today is such a beautiful day and here we are, holding hands and taking a stroll. And I think that I'm happy."

That frown that crept onto his face gave way to a grin. "That's nice to hear."

She couldn't help but grin back, "It's nice to be here with you. With no one else but us."

Matt nodded but she saw something in his eyes. He stopped walking and took hold of her other hand.

"Lena, I know that I'd said that I would wait and take it slow, and I understand if you won't take me now but I have to ask anyway. I don't want you to think that -"

He was nervous, it was so obvious but Elena merely tiptoed slightly and kiss his lips gently. It was the first that their lips had touched and Matt was stunned into silence. Never would he have thought that Elena would be the one who made the first move.

"Well, I had to do that else you wouldn't stop." Before Matt could say anything, Elena continued, "I can't say those words to you yet, but I really do like you and I like being around you. It's probably selfish of me, but I really do want to give this a try."

She had thought about it long and hard over the past few days after the conversation with Stefan and Elena had thought why not? Matt made her happy and she really did like him. Maybe not love, not yet. But a part of her really do want the both of them to work out. She couldn't control the future and what it would bring, but for now, she was certain that she liked Matt and that she liked being around him.

Matt's grin widened and he framed her face with his hands, "It's not selfish of you, Lena. You needed to be sure and now that you're almost there, I really do like you, too. And why not let's give this a try? Does this mean that you'll be my girlfriend?"

The way he said it made her giggle. It was like as though he could hardly believe it and was testing the word out. Elena could hardly believe it, either.

Here they were, standing in the middle of nowhere in school and confiding each other's feelings for each other and taking the next step. A huge step to Elena but Matt already knew. It felt like his world shuddered for a moment and then righted again. He didn't just like Elena, he loved her. But he also didn't want to scare her away. This was so much more than he could've asked.

"Yes, Matt. Does this mean you'll be my boyfriend?"

Laughing weakly, Matt nodded, "Of course, Elena." And he couldn't stop himself from kissing her. That one taste of her had him wanting more so he deepened the kiss and felt his heart leap.

When Matt had finally let her go, Elena sighed and put their brows together. This felt nice. She didn't know about right, but she felt safe, comfortable and happy. That was all that mattered right?

Just then, Matt's phone rang and he groaned. After the short conversation, Matt rolled his eyes and said, "I'm sorry but I have to go. Prof Fell got my papers marked and she wants to see me to go through it. Apparently, it's not as good as it can be."

Elena felt her heart sink. They were supposed to be spending the day together, one full day after their hectic schedules but, it was school. "It's alright, go ahead I'll see you after."

"Count on it." After a deep kiss, Matt winked at her and left, while Elena made her way back to her room, smiling to herself.

Letting herself in, Elena was about to shut the door when a hand slammed against it and the door was forcefully pushed open, forcing her to take two steps back.

"What the -" But those striking blue eyes pinned her to the spot and struck her speechless. And the world which felt safe, comfortable and nice just got turned upside down even as her heart thudded so hard against her chest that she could hear it beating quickly. It was a wonder he didn't, too.

Closing the door behind his back with a smart click, Damon took a step closer and tried hard to bank down on his anger. Seeing the blond Donovan boy have his tongue all but down Elena's throat made him want to punch him. But seeing Elena responding back in kind made him want to murder the boy.

"What the hell are you doing letting that boy put his hands all over you?"

Once Elena was over the shock, she felt her blood boiling. Who did he think he was, barging into her room like that and demanding answers?

"His hands weren't all over me and he is none of your business. What I do has nothing to do with you."

He smirked, a dangerous glint in his eyes which made her temper falter for a moment. This was a man standing in front of her and he looked like he was capable of anything, of hurting anything. Maybe even her.

"That's where you're wrong, Elena." It was said with such deceptive sweetness that it brought chills down her spine. She had seen him angry before, both the hot fury and the ice cold anger. But they had never been aimed at her before. Not until now.

"I don't know what is it you want, Damon. But what you need to do right now is to leave. I want you to leave me alone."

When he took another step closer, she took another step back. She didn't even realise that she was breathing heavily.

"Now, you might want to think again. Do you really want me to leave? Do you really want me to leave you alone? Think again, Elena, because if you do, I can promise that I won't ever bother you again. So, is that really what you want?"

She couldn't think. Simply couldn't. All she knew was that this was wrong. Whatever he was implying, it was simply not right. He was engaged and she now had a boyfriend. She could not cheat on Matt, not on sweet, sweet Matt. And she would not be the cause of Damon's engagement breaking off. She couldn't want him to stay, she couldn't be so selfish when there were so many hearts on the line. Oh but she wanted him to stay. _Needed _him to. This was the moment she had been waiting for, hoping for, for so long. Yet...

"Yes, that's really what I want, Damon. I want you to leave. Now."

He paused. Then nodded. "Very well, then."

She blinked and he was gone. The door swung shut behind him. He was gone. Again.

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